like Confederate could combine the design
and engineering talents of two men and create a running
model in such a short space of time.
At Bonneville, the Gods
of Speed were not unkind. Sure the salt was very wet and the
top speed times were down, but the Confederate Wraith ran
true, trucking home to Louisiana with a 131mph time slip and
a message that the Confederate meant business.
The next part
of this story concerns one of the greatest natural disasters
to hit the United States—Hurricane Katrina. Destroying
Confederate’s quarters, it forced the small company to
relocate to Birmingham, Alabama. The reason for this move to
the "Detroit of the South" was one Mr. Barber as owner of
the world’s most prestigious motorcycle collection located
at the Barber Museum, with one of the finest race track’s
right next door; it was a natural fit for the American
motorcycle manufacturer. Company owner Matt Chambers vowed
that this move would make Confederate stronger. Minus
designer J.T Nesbitt, Matt and his staff took Mr. Barber s
invitation and moved east.
Constructing a motorcycle of this
nature is no easy task and the trials and tribulations
Confederate has endured is well documented. So, when I got
the call to ride the Wraith, it was a moment that would |
go down
as one of my motorcycle all time greats. Knowing what level of
adversity Matt Chambers, Brian Case and Ed Jacobs have undergone
since Katrina, made the fact that they would be in Daytona with not
one, but two Wraiths, proved that Confederate has weathered the
storm.
Talking with Matt, I’ve learned that Confederate has taken
over forty orders for this new machine. This was music to my ears
and it felt good to know that Confederate was heading into 2007 on
such a strong footing.
Bike Week is a non-stop barrage of sensory
overloads. So I enjoyed the eerie quiet, as I made my way through
the thick fog that was rolling in off the Atlantic. It was the last
Saturday of the rally and I was on my way to meet Matt and the gang
a little after dawn. With the vast majority of Bike Week’s attendees
sleeping off the previous evening’s debauchery, I arrived to find
the crew rolling out prototype number-four and prototype number-five
for the ride.
The first part of the day I rode number-four and later
switched to number-five. Brian Case gave me a quick run-down on the
starting procedure then we hit the early morning Daytona streets.
The starting procedure became one of the most engaging parts of my
Confederate Wraith experience. I ran through my series of pre-flight
checks: compression release buttons depressed, |
ignition
switch to the first position, fuel pump switched on, select neutral
and then hit the starter button, making sure my left leg was no
where near the exposed clutch.
The bike Fired immediately with a
cool jet airplane-like whine, the 120 cubic- inch V-twin quickly
settled into a throaty idle. Called the B120, the counter-balanced
engine produces around 125 horsepower and a monster 131 foot-pounds
of torque. The 4.5 inch pistons thumped up and down and the
vibration was minimal. Then pulling in the heavy hydraulic clutch, I
located first gear and hit Atlantic Avenue.
The ride position is
something akin to a late ’70s Laverda Jota. It puts you in the race
crouch, but with more room than a smaller Japanese sport bike. The
bars are wider and the pegs, while rear set, are not unnaturally
cramped. Sitting on top of an exposed engine is weird, as there is
no gas tank between your legs—it’s located under the engine. The
slim carbon fiber composite spine frame doubles as the oil tank,
doing nothing to dampen out the noise from the valve gear. The seat
is equally weird with nothing behind it which adds to the sensation
of being suspended in mid-air when you ride.
As a prototype, there
are issues to be addressed before the bike goes to final production
and I was flattered that Brian and |
